'PM has sold out Yorks' according to council leader

Nov 4 2008 by Henryk Zientek, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

KIRKLEES Council leader Clr Robert Light has accused Prime Minister Gordon Brown of “selling out” West Yorkshire in the controversial takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland by Lloyds TSB.

Tory leader Clr Light said Mr Brown had failed to provide guarantees that jobs in Yorkshire would be safe following the Government-sponsored deal.

Clr Light, who is also chairman of the Leeds City Region, a group made up of local council leaders, said he wrote to the Prime Minister in September to express his concerns about the impact of the merger on jobs in West Yorkshire, where the Halifax employs thousands of people.

In that letter, he also called for a guarantee that the merged bank would retain a Yorkshire base for HBOS and demanded assurances that the Government would work with council leaders in the region “to secure a positive future for the financial industry in the area”.